System and method for geographically organizing and classifying businesses on the world-wide web

Abstract

A method and search engine for classifying a source publishing a document on a portion of a network, includes steps of electronically receiving a document, based on the document, determining a source which published the document, and assigning a code to the document based on whether data associated with the document published by the source matches with data contained in a database. An intelligent geographic- and business topic-specific resource discovery system facilitates local commerce on the World-Wide Web and also reduces search time by accurately isolating information for end-users. Distinguishing and classifying business pages on the Web by business categories using Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes is achieved through an automatic iterative process.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows: 
     
         1 . A method of classifying a source publishing a document on a portion of a network, comprising steps of:
 electronically receiving a document;   based on the document, determining a source which published the document; and   assigning a code to said document based on whether data associated with the document published by the source matches with data contained in a database.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said portion of said network comprises a graphical multimedia portion of said network, said source comprises a Web site publishing a home page, and said network comprises the Internet. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 2 , wherein said graphical multimedia portion of said network comprises the World-Wide Web (WWW) and said document comprises a Web document,
 wherein said step of assigning a code includes determining that the Web site comprises a first entity when there is a match of the Web site with said data, and determining that the Web site comprises a second entity when there is no match of the Web site with said data.   
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said step of determining a source includes:
 extracting a domain name from a predetermined uniform resources locator (URL) database;   querying a database for storing registered domain names; and   merging an address database with predetermined data.   
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 4 , wherein said predetermined data comprises Yellow Pages data,
 wherein said step of determining further comprises:
 characterizing uniform resource locators (URLs) by their Internet Protocol (IP) addresses including identifying a plurality of attributes based on the IP addresses of new URLs, a new URL being retrieved and parsed into a domain name and directory path portions, and 
 determining, based on said domain name, whether a selected URL is hosted on one of a true server and a shared server. 
   
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5 , said step of determining further comprising:
 for a shared server, determining a root path by searching for the given domain name in a new URL database and identifying common directory paths,   wherein, when no match is present, the URL is processed subsequently at a later iteration, and, when a match is present, the root path is set to a matching path.   
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein said step of assigning a code comprises:
 automatically identifying a business associated with the source publishing said document, said business being hosted on a Service Provider (SP) Web server.   
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 7 , wherein said step of assigning a code further comprises:
 receiving a URL based on said determining step; and   a URL determining step for determining whether said URL comprises one of a root URL and a leaf URL.   
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein said root URL comprises an entry point for a home page on the World-Wide Web, and a leaf URL comprises a link below a root URL,
 wherein said URL determining step comprises:
 parsing said URL into a domain name component and a directory path component; 
 analyzing the domain name in said domain name component to determine whether it is associated with an SP; 
 when the domain name is not associated with an SP, checking the directory path component to judge whether a directory path is missing, a missing directory path indicating a root URL; 
 when the domain name is associated with an SP, checking whether a directory path does not exist to thereby determine that said domain name comprises a root URL, and when a directory path exists, then comparing the path to known SP Client Directory paths. 
   
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 9 , further comprising:
 when said URL is determined to be a root URL, analyzing a home page associated with said root URL automatically to extract home page data contained therein and assigning the home page data to the Root URL being analyzed.   
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 10 , further comprising:
 comparing said home page data with data in a predetermined business organizations database,   wherein, when there is a match, said code is assigned to the corresponding root URL, and, when no match is found, said URL is identified for subsequent analysis of lower-level hyperlinks during a next iteration of said method.   
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein when no match is found at any level, said home page is identified as a personal page. 
     
     
         13 . A method of automatically assigning a document a code for distinguishing a first-type page from a second-type page, comprising steps of:
 electronically receiving a document;   based on the document, determining a source which published the document; and   assigning a code to said document based on whether the source matches with data contained in a database.   
     
     
         14 . A search engine for use on a network for distinguishing between business web pages and personal web pages, comprising:
 means for parsing the content of a hyper-text markup language (HTML) at a web address and searching for criteria contained therein;   means for analyzing a uniform resources locator (URL) of the web address to determine characteristics thereof of a web page at the web address;   means for determining whether said criteria match with data contained in a database; and   means for cross-referencing a match, determined by said determining means, to a second database, to classify a source which published the web page.   
     
     
         15 . A search engine according to  claim 14 , wherein said criteria include at least one of an address, a telephone numbers, a facsimile number, a contact and a key-word contained in said HTML, and
 wherein the characteristics of said web page include a geographical location and a web host computer.   
     
     
         16 . A search engine according to  claim 14 , wherein said database includes a Business Semantic Terminology database having information related to business categories in a Yellow Pages directory. 
     
     
         17 . A search engine according to  claim 14 , wherein said second database includes a Yellow Pages database. 
     
     
         18 . A search engine according to  claim 14 , wherein said web page comprises hyperlinks, and said means for parsing comprises an indexer robot for traversing said hyperlinks in said web page and a web index database,
 said indexer robot for indexing a content of said web page into said web index database.   
     
     
         19 . A search engine according to  claim 14 , wherein said means for analyzing comprises:
 means for determining whether said URL comprises one of a root URL and a leaf URL.   
     
     
         20 . A search engine according to  claim 19 , wherein said root URL comprises an entry point for the web page on the World-Wide Web, and a leaf URL comprises a link below a root URL, said search engine further comprising:
 means for parsing said URL into a domain name component and a directory path component;   means for analyzing the domain name in said domain name component to determine whether it is associated with an SP;   means for checking the directory path component to judge whether a directory path is missing, when the domain name is not associated with a service provider (SP), a missing directory path indicating a root URL, and for checking whether a directory path does not exist to thereby determine that said domain name comprises a root URL, when the domain name is associated with an SP;   means for comparing the path to known SP Client Directory paths, when a directory path exists;   means for analyzing a home page associated with said root URL, when said URL is determined to be a root URL, thereby automatically to extract home page data contained therein; and   means for assigning the home page data to the Root URL being analyzed.